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Effective/Last
Updated: July 1, 2021
BNI Connect®
TERMS OF SERVICE
BNI Worldwide Development Ltd controls your personal data
related to BNI’s operating management system known as BNI
Connect® for and on behalf of BNI Global, LLC, together with its
related affiliates BNI
Connect Global, LLC, BNI Enterprise Business Network (Guangzhou)
Co Ltd, BNI Franchising, LLC, BNI Global Holdings LLC, BNI
Holdings, LLC, BNI Hong Kong Enterprises Pvt Ltd, BNI India
Enterprises Pvt Ltd, BNI Intermediate Holdings, LLC, BNI
Intermediate Holdings CTB, BNI Lanka Enterprises Pvt Ltd, BNI
Networking & Referral Ireland Holdings Limited, BNI Singapore
Enterprises Pvt Ltd, BNI Ultimate Holdings LLC, Rec S.r.l,
Business Network France, Chapters France, CorpConnect
Enterprises India Pvt Ltd, Corporate Connections Franchising,
LLC, Corporate Connections Global, LLC, Corporate Connections
Worldwide Development Ltd, Netwerk Organisatie Nederland en
Vlaanderen B.V, Network Organization Benelux Ltd, Scion Social
Holdings LLC, Scion Social Pvt Ltd, and Scion Social Pte Ltd
(“BNI”,
“our” or “we”) is making its BNI Connect®
tool available to you subject to these evolving Terms of Service
(“ToS”). The
ToS govern your access to and use of BNI’s services available
via our BNI Connect®
Website and Mobile App, each as and if applicable, (collectively
“BNI Sites”).
The BNI Sites include BNI’s related websites, SMS,
APIs, email notifications, applications (web and/or mobile),
buttons, widgets, ads, commerce services, and any other related
services that can be accessed via our BNI Sites or that link to
these ToS (collectively, the “Services”), and any
information, text, links, graphics, photos, videos, or other
materials or arrangements of materials uploaded, downloaded or
appearing on the Services (collectively referred to as “Content”).
By using the BNI Sites and Services you agree to be bound by
these ToS. Since these ToS are evolving, expect frequent changes
to them, and with such changes, your use, rights and privacy
expectations may also change.
In the event of inconsistency between any terms of this contract
and any translation into another language, the English version
will control and prevail on any question of interpretation or
otherwise.
1. Who May Use the
Services.
If the law in your jurisdiction allows you
to enter into agreements with third parties, you agree to these
ToS, and you are a member of BNI in good standing, then you can
use the BNI Sites and Services.
However, if (a) your mind is legally incapacitated
(mental disability, intoxication, under the age of 18, etc.) for
any reason, or (b) you are no longer or not yet a member in good
standing of BNI, then you are not allowed to use the BNI Sites
and Services. For
those who are accepting these ToS and using the BNI Sites and
Services on behalf of a company, organization, government, or
other legal entity, you represent and warrant that you are
authorized to do so.
2. Privacy.
Our Privacy Policy, accessible at
http://bnitos.com/privacy.html, describes how we
collect, process, store and share the information you provide to
us when you use our BNI Sites and Services. You acknowledge that
through your use of the Services,
your personal data will be collected
and used as set forth in
the Privacy Policy, including the transfer of your data to the
United States, United Kingdom, and/or other countries for
storage, processing and use by BNI, its franchisees and members,
and its affiliates.
3. Content on the
Services.
You are responsible for your use of the
BNI Sites and Services and for any Content you provide,
including compliance with applicable laws, rules, and
regulations. Don’t
hit the submit/send button, unless you are prepared to be held
accountable for your Content.
Like with any content published via the
Internet, you must consider the source of the Content or
materials before using or relying upon it. Your use of the
Content and BNI Sites are at your own risk.
Users of the Services will operate in a lawful, ethical and
professional manner. Users shall conduct themselves in a fair,
responsible and businesslike manner at all times and will avoid
any discourteous, deceptive, misleading or unethical practices.
You are solely responsible for any comments or posts you
leave on our Sites, Blogs or the BNI Connect® tool. BNI does not
control content posted and does not guarantee the accuracy,
integrity or quality of the content. In using the Site or the
Services you may be exposed to content that you may find
offensive, indecent or objectionable. Under no circumstances
will BNI be liable in any way for any content, including but not
limited to any errors or omissions in any content or any loss or
damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any
content posted or otherwise made available via the BNI Sites or
the Services.
Examples of unethical or unlawful activities include, but are
not limited to the following:
-
False, misleading or disparaging statements of any kind
including but not limited to about BNI or its affiliated
entities or any person or entity using the BNI Sites or the
Services;
-
Any unauthorized use of the name, logo, trademark or
copyrighted material of BNI, its affiliated entities or any
other person or entity;
-
Violation of any federal, state or local laws or
regulations;
“Spamming” is the abuse of electronic messaging systems to
indiscriminately send unsolicited bulk messages. While the most
widely recognized form of spam is e-mail spam, the term is
applied to similar abuse in other media, such as but not limited
to, instant messaging, Usenet newsgroups, web search engines,
spam in blogs, wiki spam, mobile phone messaging spam, Internet
forum spam, and junk fax transmissions. Spamming is strictly
prohibited by BNI and will result in the immediate termination
of your account. Spamming may also be illegal under applicable
laws and may subject you to civil or criminal penalties.
Your use of software made available via a BNI Site is subject to
any applicable license agreement or user agreement or the
documentation that accompanies or is included with the software
(“License Terms”). In
the event that software that is provided on or through a BNI
site is not licensed for your use through License Terms specific
to the software, you may use the software subject to the
following: (a) the software may not be modified or altered in
any way; and (b) the software may not be redistributed.
You agree NOT to use the BNI Sites or the Services to:
-
upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any
content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive,
harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive
of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or
otherwise objectionable or that harm minors in any way;
-
impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited
to, a BNI representative, forum leader, guide or host, or
falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation
with a person or entity;
-
forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to
disguise the origin of any content transmitted through the
Site or the Services;
-
upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any
content that you do not have a legal right to make
available;
-
upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any
content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret,
copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;
-
upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any
unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional
materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," or any
other form of solicitation or promotion;
-
upload, post, email, transmit or otherwise make available any
material that contains malicious software;
-
interfere with or disrupt the Site or Services or servers or
networks connected to the Site or the Services;
-
violate any applicable laws or any regulations having the
force of law; or
-
"stalk" or otherwise harass another person.
BNI has the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion
to screen, refuse, move or remove any content that violates the
ToS or is otherwise objectionable.
You bear all risks associated with the use of any content on the
BNI Sites or in connection with the Services including any
reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such
content.
You acknowledge that BNI may access, preserve and disclose your
account information and content if required to do so by law or
in a good faith belief that such access preservation or
disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal
process; (b) enforce the provisions of this ToS; (c) respond to
claims that any content violates the rights of third parties;
(d) respond to your requests for customer service; or (e)
protect the rights, property or personal safety of BNI, its
users and the public.
The Services and software
embodied within the Service may include security components that
permit digital materials to be protected. The use of these
materials is subject to usage rules set by BNI and/or its
technology providers. You may not attempt to override or
circumvent any of the usage rules embedded in the Services.
BNI is an internet service provider, and
BNI is not responsible for the Content of its users.
As an internet service provider, BNI may not monitor or
control the Content posted via the BNI Sites.
This means that BNI does not endorse, support, represent,
verify or guarantee the completeness, truthfulness, accuracy, or
reliability of any Content or communications posted via the BNI
Sites and Services, or endorse any opinions expressed via the
BNI Sites and Services.
This means that you may read or view Content that is
offensive, false, misleading, deceptive, or otherwise
inappropriate, or in some cases, postings that have been
mislabeled. All Content is the sole responsibility of the user
who authored or published such Content, which is you when you
author and publish content via the BNI Sites and Services.
BNI is an intellectual property owner and
understands the costs and expenses in developing and maintaining
intellectual property.
BNI also respects the intellectual property rights of
others and expects its users of the BNI Sites and Services to do
the same. We reserve the right to remove Content alleged to be
infringing without prior notice, at our sole discretion, and
without liability to you. We will respond to notices of alleged
copyright infringement that comply with applicable law and are
properly provided to us, as summarized for you in our
Digital Millennium Copyright Act
(“DMCA”)
Copyright Infringement Report
and
Counter Notice forms.
Here you will find BNI’s instructions for reporting
copyright infringement to it, and responding to infringement
allegations against you by others.
We will respond to notices of alleged trademark and other
intellectual property infringement that comply with applicable
law and are properly provided to us, as described in our
Trademark Infringement Report and
Counter Notice
forms. Here you will find
BNI’s instructions for reporting trademark infringement to it,
and responding to infringement allegations against you by
others.
4. Your Rights.
You are to be responsible for
what you submit or post via the BNI Sites and Services.
This may be your opinions, photos, videos, logos and any other
thing that you can submit or post via the BNI Sites and
Services.
Please note that when you submit or post
Content via the BNI Sites and Services, you are granting to BNI
a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license (with the right
to sublicense) to use it for BNI’s business interests.
You acknowledge that any of this submitted Content, as well as
any other existing Content, can be used to create
relationship/networking information related to BNI Members (“Relationship
Data”). You
acknowledge and agree that Relationship Data is owned
exclusively by BNI, and neither you, nor anyone else, can use
this Relationship Data without the express written consent from
BNI. The purpose of this acknowledgement of BNI’s ownership of
the Relationship Data is in part to prevent others from creating
competing network groups or the like from the Content that BNI
has spent significant money, time and allocation of resources in
collecting and sorting for its business interests.
Accordingly, BNI owns the member relationship and the
Relationship Data. Similarly, if you are a BNI Franchisee, you
acknowledge that we may share your performance data with other
franchisees and that Relationship Data may similarly be shared.
5. Using the
Services.
You may use the Services only in
compliance with these ToS and all applicable laws, rules and
regulations.
BNI’s Services are constantly evolving and
our Services are likely to change from time to time, at our
discretion and in accordance to our terms. BNI has the right and
may stop (permanently or temporarily) providing Services or any
features within the Services to you or to any user. BNI also
retains the right to create limits on your use and storage at
our sole discretion at any time. BNI may also remove or refuse
to distribute any Content via the BNI Sites and Services,
suspend or terminate users, and reclaim usernames without
liability to you.
You acknowledge and agree that in
consideration for BNI granting you access to and use of the BNI
Sites and Services, BNI and its third-party providers and
partners may place advertising to you via the BNI Sites and
Services, or in connection with the display of Content
(including your submitted or posted Content) or information from
the Services whether submitted by you or others. You also agree
not to misuse our BNI Sites or Services, for example, by
interfering with them or accessing them using a method other
than the interface and the instructions that we provide
BNI also reserve the right to access,
read, preserve, and disclose any information as we reasonably
believe is necessary to (i) satisfy any applicable law,
regulation, legal process or governmental request, (ii) enforce
the ToS, including investigation of potential violations hereof,
(iii) detect, prevent, or otherwise address fraud, security or
technical issues, (iv) respond to user support requests, or (v)
protect the rights, property or safety of BNI, its users and the
public. BNI does not disclose personal identifying information
to third parties except in accordance with its Privacy Policy.
You are not allowed to develop the BNI
Sites and Services except as authorized in the ToS.
6. Your Account.
You need to join BNI and create a BNI
online account to use our online Services on the BNI Sites. You
are responsible for safeguarding your BNI Connect account, so
use a strong password and limit its use to this account. BNI
cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising
from your failure to comply with the above.
7. Ending These
Terms of Service.
You may end your legal agreement and
membership with BNI at any time by deactivating your accounts
and discontinuing your use of the Services.
BNI may suspend or terminate your account
or cease providing you with all or part of the Services at any
time for any or no reason, including, but not limited to, if we
reasonably believe: (i) you have violated these ToS, (ii) you
create risk or possible legal exposure for us; (iii) your
account should be removed due to prolonged inactivity; (iv) your
BNI membership expires or is otherwise not renewed or
terminated, or (v) our provision of the Services to you is no
longer commercially viable. We will make reasonable efforts to
notify you by the email address associated with your account or
the next time you attempt to access your account, depending on
the circumstances. In all such cases, the ToS shall terminate,
including, without limitation, your license to use the Services,
except that the following Sections shall continue to apply: 1,
2, 3 and 8.
8. Third Party Beneficiaries.
You agree that these ToS is not an agreement between you and
Apple®, Google® or any other third party.
BNI grants you the right to use the BNI Sites on either
an iOS or Android product that you own or control, and as
permitted by such product’s applicable usage rules.
In the event of any failure of the BNI Sites to conform
to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple®, Google® or
other applicable third party to request a refund of your
purchase price, if applicable, for the BNI Sites; and to the
maximum extent permitted by applicable law. BNI shall provide
maintenance and support services to the BNI Sites.
If you have any intellectual property or other claim in
association with the BNI Sites, please see BNI
at
legal@bni.com.
Apple®, Google® or
other applicable third party, and their subsidiaries are third
party beneficiaries of this ToS and Privacy Policy, and, upon
your acceptance, these third-party beneficiaries thereof will
have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right)
to enforce these ToS against you.
9. All Other Terms.
The following additional terms apply both to your use
of the BNI Connect® Mobile App and to the BNI Connect® website.
A. Fees and Payments.
If you choose to join BNI as a member in a BNI chapter, you will be
provided access to our BNI Sites and you agree to pay all fees
associated with the membership. Moreover, the BNI Connect® Sites
are only available if you are a member of BNI in good standing.
When you order a service you have an opportunity to review and
accept the fees that will be charged. Prices, availability, and
other purchase terms are subject to change. BNI reserves the
right without prior notice to discontinue or change
specifications and prices on services offered on and outside of
the BNI Sites without incurring any obligation to you. All fees
may be subject to taxes.
You are responsible for providing true, accurate, current, and
complete information when ordering services through the BNI
Sites or otherwise. If you use the BNI Sites or other means to
purchase a service, payment must be received prior to acceptance
of an order. BNI may need to verify information you provide
before BNI accepts your order, and may cancel or limit your
order any time after it has been placed. Subject to applicable
membership policies, if payment has already been made and your
order is cancelled or limited, BNI will refund any payment you
made for the service that will not be delivered due to
cancellation or limitation of an order in the same tender as the
original purchase.
If, for any reason, your credit card company declines or otherwise
refuses to pay the amount owed for the service you have
purchased, you agree that we may, at our option, suspend or
terminate delivery of service and may require you to pay any
overdue amounts incurred (including third-party chargeback fees
or penalties) by other means acceptable to us. In the event
legal action is necessary to collect on balances due, you agree
to reimburse us for all expenses incurred to recover sums due,
including attorney fees and other legal expenses.
Purchases of other products and services through the BNI Sites may
be subject to other terms and conditions that are presented to
you at the time of purchase.
B. No Automated Querying.
You may not send automated queries of any sort to the BNI Sites or
its systems without express written permission in advance from
BNI.
C. Representations and Warranties.
For each piece of information and/or content that you submit,
you represent and warrant that: (i) you have the right to submit
the content to BNI and grant the licenses set forth above; (ii)
BNI will not need to obtain licenses from any third party or pay
royalties to any third party; (iii) the content does not
infringe on any third party’s rights, including intellectual
property rights and privacy rights; and (iv) the content
complies with this ToS and all applicable laws. If you are
submitting information and/or content that relates to a third
party (e.g. a Chapter visitor’s or a Referral’s contact
information), you are representing and warranting that (a)
you’ve secured consent from such third party for use of the
information in the manner reasonably anticipated (and in any
event to the extent that you’ve consented to for use of your own
information), (b) you will pass on and ensure delivery of any
breach notification to such third parties, and (c) you’ll update
BNI to the extent such third party desires to revise or withdraw
its consent, change, remove or otherwise exercise its data
privacy rights concerning use of its information.
D. Intellectual Property.
All content included on the BNI Sites and in connection with the
Services such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images,
audio clips, digital downloads, data compilations and software,
is the property of BNI or its content suppliers and is protected
by international copyright laws. All software used on the Site
is the property of BNI or its software suppliers and is
protected by international copyright laws. All of the
trademarks, service marks, logos, brand and trade names
appearing on the Site are the proprietary intellectual property
of the owners of such marks, logos or names and you may not use,
modify, remove or otherwise infringe any of such proprietary
intellectual property. BNI retains full ownership rights with
respect to the Site and the Services including but not limited
to design, functionality, and documentation. You may not copy,
edit, or reproduce any part of the Site or the Services.
E. Copyright.
The DMCA provides protections to BNI relating to material posted
online at the discretion of users of our Sites. If you are a
copyright owner and believe that any content on our Site
infringes your copyrights, you may inform us by completing our
Copyright Infringement Report
form and mailing it to:
BNI Global, LLC 11525 N Community House Road
Suite 475 Charlotte, NC 28277
-
a specific description of the alleged infringement and the
copyrighted work that you believe has been violated;
-
the exact location of the infringing material on the Site;
-
your contact information; and
-
a statement by a person authorized to take action on behalf
of the owner of the copyright certifying that the
information provided is true and correct.
F. Indemnity and Defense.
You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless BNI and its
affiliates (and their respective employees, directors, agents
and representatives) from and against any and all claims, costs,
losses, damages, judgments, penalties, interest and expenses
(including reasonable attorneys' fees) that arise out of or
relate to: (i) your use of the Site or the Services; (ii) any
actual or alleged breach of your representations, warranties, or
obligations set forth in this ToS; (iii) any content you provide
including but not limited to any actual or alleged infringement
of any intellectual property or proprietary rights of any third
party.
G. Limitation of Liability.
BNI will not be liable for direct or indirect damages of any kind,
including without limitation incidental, punitive or
consequential damage or loss arising out of or in connection
with this ToS, the Site, the Services, inability to use the Site
or the Services, or resulting from any goods or services
obtained or messages received or transactions entered into
through the Site or the Services.
H. Disclaimer of Warranties.
The BNI Sites and the Services are provided on an “as is” and “as
available” basis. BNI makes no representations or warranties of
any kind, express or implied, concerning the Site, the Services
or the content thereof. To the fullest extent permissible under
applicable law BNI disclaims any and all such warranties
including without limitation:
-
Any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a
particular purpose, title, and non-infringement;
-
That the Site or the Services will meet your requirements,
will always be available, accessible, uninterrupted, timely,
secure, or operate without error;
-
That the information, content and materials included on the
Site will be as represented;
-
Any implied warranty arising from course of dealing or usage
of trade; and
-
Any obligation, liability, right, claim or remedy in tort,
whether or not arising from the negligence of BNI.
I. Third Party websites.
The BNI Sites may redirect or link to other websites on the
Internet, or may otherwise include references to information,
products or services made available by unaffiliated third
parties. While we make every effort to work with trusted,
reputable providers, from time to time such sites may contain
information, material or policies that some may find
inappropriate or personally objectionable. You understand that
we are not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, decency
or legality of content hosted by third party websites, nor are
we responsible for errors or omissions in any references made on
those websites. The inclusion of such a link or reference is
provided merely as a convenience and does not imply endorsement
of, or association with the Site or party by us, or any warranty
of any kind, either express or implied. You are solely
responsible for and assume all risk arising from your access to
and/or use of any such linked websites.
J. Electronic Delivery of Notices.
By using the BNI Sites or the Services you consent to
electronically receive from BNI any communications including
notices, agreements, legally required disclosures or other
information in connection with the Services. BNI may also
provide such notices by posting them on the Site. If you desire
to withdraw your consent to receive notices electronically you
must discontinue your use of Site and the Services.
K. Venue and Applicable Law.
The BNI Sites are created, operated and controlled by BNI in the
State of North Carolina, United States of America. The laws of
the State of North Carolina govern this ToS without giving
effect to principles of conflicts of laws. Any action arising
under this ToS shall be brought only in courts located in
Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which shall have exclusive
jurisdiction and you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of
such courts.
L. Severability.
In the event that any provision of this ToS is held to be invalid
or unenforceable the remaining provisions of this ToS will
remain in full force and effect.
M. Waiver.
BNI will not be considered to have waived any of rights or
remedies described in this ToS unless the waiver is in writing
and signed by BNI. No delay or omission by us in exercising our
rights or remedies will impair or be construed as a waiver. Any
single or partial exercise of a right or remedy will not
preclude further exercise of any other right or remedy. Our
failure to enforce the strict performance of any provision of
this ToS will not constitute a waiver of BNI’s right to
subsequently enforce such provision or any other provisions of
this ToS.
N. Relationship of Parties.
BNI is not your agent, fiduciary, trustee, or representative.
Nothing expressed or implied in this ToS is intended or shall be
construed to give to any person other than the parties hereto
any legal or equitable right, remedy, or claim under or in
respect to this ToS. This ToS is intended for the sole and
exclusive benefit of BNI and you.
O. No Resale Right.
You agree not to sell, resell, reproduce,
duplicate, distribute, copy, or use for any commercial purpose
any portion of this Site, or use of or access to this Site
provided through this Site, beyond the limited rights granted to
you in our ToS.
P. Force Majeure.
In addition to any excuse provided by
applicable law, we shall be excused from liability for
non-delivery or delay in delivery of Services available through
our Site arising from any event beyond our reasonable control,
whether or not foreseeable by either party, including but not
limited to: labor disturbance, war, fire, accident, adverse
weather, inability to secure transportation, governmental act or
regulation, and other causes or events beyond our reasonable
control, whether or not similar to those which are enumerated
above.
Effective/Last Updated:
July 1, 2021
These ToS are an agreement between you and
BNI Connect Global LLC, a subsidiary of and on behalf of BNI
Global, LLC together with its sister affiliate company Corporate
Connections Global, LLC, 11525 N Community House Road, Suite
475, Charlotte, NC 28277 U.S.A. If you have any questions about
these ToS, please contact us at legal@bni.com.
©2021 BNI Global LLC. All rights reserved.
Copyright Infringement Report
To provide
Counter-Notice to Copyright Infringement,
click here.
The Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”),
17 U.S.C.
§ 512(c),
limits BNI’s liability for copyright infringement by content
residing on our servers.
If you believe that
your copyrighted work has been used or copied, and that it now
resides on our servers in a way that constitutes copyright
infringement, the DMCA details certain steps you may wish to
take. One of these is to give us notice, by providing us certain
types of information specifically outlined in
17 U.S.C.
§ 512(c).
Notice will not be
effective unless and until it is delivered by the U.S. Postal
Service, or other delivery service, to the following address:
BNI Global, LLC Attn: General Counsel 11525 N Community House
Road Suite 475 Charlotte, NC 28277
Please provide the
following information:
1.
A signature of the copyright owner, or a person
authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive
copyright that has allegedly been infringed.
2.
Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have
been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single
online site are covered by a single notification, a
representative list of such works on that site.
3.
Identification of the material that is claimed to be
infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that
is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and
information reasonably sufficient to permit BNI to locate the
material.
4.
Information reasonably sufficient to permit BNI to
contact the Complaining Party, such as an address, telephone
number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which
the Complaining Party may be contacted.
5.
A statement that the Complaining Party has a good faith
belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is
not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
6.
A statement that the information in the notification is
accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the Complaining
Party is the owner, or is authorized to act on behalf of the
owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Upon receipt of
appropriate notification from the Complaining Party, BNI will
initiate an investigation and forward the Complaining Party's
written notification to the alleged infringer. While BNI is
investigating the claim, BNI, at its sole discretion and without
any legal obligation to do so, may, temporarily remove or deny
access to the allegedly infringing material from the Site.
If BNI concludes
that the Complaining Party has raised a legitimate copyright
claim, it will continue to suspend the alleged infringer's BNI
account and/or if it is solely stored on a BNI server, deny
access to the allegedly infringing material. If BNI concludes
that the Complaining Party has not raised a legitimate claim,
BNI will restore access to the allegedly infringing material.
Copyright Infringement Counter-Notice
If you have received
a notice of trademark infringement that you wish to challenge
based on a good faith belief that the material was removed or
disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the
material to be removed or disabled, you may provide Counter
Notice to BNI:
The Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”),
17 U.S.C.
§ 512(c),
details certain steps you may wish to take. One of these is to
give us counter-notice.
The DMCA provides
that BNI, as your service provider, may put the alleged
infringing content back online only upon receipt of a
counter-notice from you, our user/member.
Your counter-notice
must include certain types of information specifically outlined
in
17 U.S.C.
§ 512(c).
Counter-notice will
not be effective unless and until it is delivered by the U.S.
Postal Service, or other delivery service, to the following
address:
BNI Global, LLC Attn: General Counsel 11525 N Community House
Road Suite 475 Charlotte, NC 28277
Please provide the
following information:
1.
A signature of the alleged infringer (i.e. your
signature).
2.
Identification of the material that has been removed or
to which access has been disabled and the location at which the
material appeared before it was removed or access to it was
disabled.
3.
A statement under penalty of perjury that the alleged
infringer has a good faith belief that the material was removed
or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the
material to be removed or disabled.
4.
The alleged infringer's name, address, and telephone
number, and a statement that the Infringer consents to the
jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, or if the alleged infringer's
address is outside of the United States, for any judicial
district in which BNI may be found, and that the alleged
infringer will accept service of process from the Complaining
Party or an agent of such Party.
Upon receipt of a
Counter Notice, BNI shall promptly provide the Complaining Party
with a copy of the Counter Notice, and inform such Party that it
will replace the removed material or cease disabling access to
it in ten (10) business days. BNI will replace the removed
material and cease disabling access to it in not less than ten
(10), nor more than fourteen (14), business days following
receipt of the Counter Notification, unless BNI first receives
notice from the Complaining Party that such Complaining Party
has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the
alleged infringer from engaging in infringing activity relating
to the material on the BNI App, Site or network.
Counter Notice will
not be effective unless and until it is delivered by the U.S.
Postal Service, or other delivery service, to the following
address:
BNI Global, LLC Attn: General Counsel 11525 N Community House
Road Suite 475 Charlotte, NC 28277
Trademark Infringement Report
To notify BNI that
there has been a trademark violation, please follow the specific
instructions.
To provide
Counter-Notice to Trademark Infringement,
click here.
If you (the
"Complaining Party") would like to submit a trademark claim for
violation of a mark on which you hold a valid, registered
trademark or service mark (registered with the United States
Patent and Trademark Office on the Principal Register or, for
foreign marks, registered with the appropriate intellectual
property organization of your country; state registrations and
registrations on the Supplemental Register are not considered
valid for these purposes), BNI requests that the Complaining
Party substantiate such claim by providing the following
information to it.
1.
The trademark, service mark, trade dress, name, or other
indicia of origin ("mark") that is claimed to be infringed,
including registration number.
2.
The jurisdiction or geographical area to which the mark
applies.
3.
The name, post office address and telephone number of the
owner of the mark identified above.
4.
The goods and/or services covered by or offered under the
mark identified above.
5.
The date of first use of the mark identified above.
6.
The date of first use in interstate commerce of the mark
identified above.
7.
A description of the manner in which the Complaining
Party believes its mark is being infringed upon.
8.
Sufficient evidence that the owner of the website that is
claimed to be infringing is a BNI user/member.
9.
The precise location of the infringing mark, including
electronic mail address, etc.
10.
A good faith certification, signed under penalty of
perjury, stating:
11.
The content of the website [identify website] infringes
the rights of another party,
12.
The name of such said party,
13.
The mark [identify mark] being infringed, and
14.
That use of the content of the website claimed to be
infringing at issue is not defensible.
Your trademark claim
will not be effective unless and until it is delivered by the
U.S. Postal Service, or other delivery service, to the following
address:
BNI Global, LLC Attn: General Counsel 11525 N Community House
Road Suite 475 Charlotte, NC 28277
Upon receipt of the
appropriate information identified above for trademark claims,
BNI will initiate an investigation and forward the Complaining
Party’s written notification to the alleged infringer. While BNI
is investigating the claim, BNI, at its sole discretion and
without any legal obligation to do so, may temporarily remove
the allegedly infringing material from the Site.
If BNI concludes
that the Complaining Party has raised a legitimate trademark
claim, it may, at its sole discretion and without any legal
obligation to do so, permanently remove the challenged material
from the Site, and suspend the alleged infringer's BNI account.
If BNI concludes that the Complaining Party has not raised a
legitimate claim, BNI will restore access to the allegedly
infringing material.
Trademark Infringement Counter-Notice
If you have received a notice of trademark infringement that you
wish to challenge based on a good faith belief that the material
was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or
misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled, you
may provide Counter Notice by providing the following
information to BNI:
1.
A signature of the alleged infringer (i.e. your
signature).
2.
Identification of the material that has been removed or
to which access has been disabled and the location at which the
material appeared before it was removed or access to it was
disabled.
3.
A statement under penalty of perjury that the alleged
infringer has a good faith belief that the material was removed
or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the
material to be removed or disabled.
4.
The alleged infringer's name, address, and telephone
number, and a statement that the Infringer consents to the
jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the Western
District of North Carolina, or if the alleged infringer's
address is outside of the United States, for any judicial
district in which BNI may be found, and that the alleged
infringer will accept service of process from the Complaining
Party or an agent of such Party.
Upon receipt of a
Counter Notice, BNI shall promptly provide the Complaining Party
with a copy of the Counter Notice, and inform such Party that it
will replace the removed material or cease disabling access to
it in ten (10) business days. BNI will replace the removed
material and cease disabling access to it in not less than ten
(10), nor more than fourteen (14), business days following
receipt of the Counter Notification, unless BNI first receives
notice from the Complaining Party that such Complaining Party
has filed an action seeking a court order to restrain the
alleged infringer from engaging in infringing activity relating
to the material on the BNI App, Site or network.
Counter Notice will
not be effective unless and until it is delivered by the U.S.
Postal Service, or other delivery service, to the following
address:
BNI Global, LLC Attn: General Counsel 11525 N Community House
Road Suite 475 Charlotte, NC 28277
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